Later in the same evening, a knock on the door startled both Steve and Herobrine, who sat patiently in bed, waiting for Steve to rebandage his poorly healing wounds.

Alarmed, both pairs of eyes, one blue and one white, held against the door, and then Steve turned to tensed Herobrine with a reassuring grin.

"It's probably one of my friends from town. Don't worry, I'll get them to leave." Steve promised. Herobrine responded with a small, stiff nod, his gaze tensely following Steve until he shut the guest room door tight to make sure that visitors could not glimpse Herobrine in the other room.

Before opening the front door, Steve quickly checked around the hallway and his eyes caught on traces of blood left on the floor, which he did not yet have time to clean. Steve hastily pulled a rug over it, but found it looked rather obvious, since a clean spot was now left where it used to lay, compared to the grimy worn wood elsewhere. Steve humphed.

Best not to let anyone in at all.

Cracking open the door, he peeked out.

His heart sank at the sight of the two men who stood outside his cabin. They were not anyone he recognized. Which left him with a fairly good idea of who they might be.

Immediately, Steve's thought flashed to Herobrine waiting in the other room, entirely defenseless.

These "heroes" defeated and crippled him when he was at his full strength. Now he could not even stand up without help. Not deceived by their ordinary outer appearance, Steve perceived that If these two strangers decided to bust in, Steve would be nothing but a momentary hindrance in their path. They would kill Herobrine and there would be nothing Steve could do to stop them. Steve's heart panged helplessly at the thought.

The men stood patiently, waiting.

Maybe... they didn't know? They were not here for Herobrine? Hope rose in Steve's heart as the men continued to wait. But then... Why were they here?!

Pushing all his fears aside, Steve put on a friendly smile, stepped outside and shut the door behind him. Then he turned and faced his dangerous visitors with a curious look.

"Can I help you?"

"You are Steve Garstone? Is that right?" Those eyes mistrustfully aimed at Steve's face were almost like sword points. Steve did his best to stifle a shiver.

They recognized him. He knew it by the look in their eyes.

Steve knew himself that he looked amazingly like Herobrine. That was the entire reason why the powerful being grew curious about him and began to visit whenever he felt like it. Steve and Herobrine looked so alike that they might have been twins.

Steve was sure that these guys noticed that resemblance. They would have had to. They had fought Herobrine face to face, having plenty of time to take a good look.

Yet, if they noticed the likeness, they did not bring it up.

And when Steve learned WHY they came to find him, he uneasily rubbed the back of his neck and chuckled.

"I... don't think I can help you. I haven't really explored those places all that much." He tried to back out of the offer.

They frowned at him. "We were told that you are the best miner and tracker around here."

"The ONLY one, actually." The taller of the men pointed out. "Everyone else is too scared to peek their noses out of their village. But you seem... comfortable living out here." Again, the suspicion hung heavy in their piercing looks. Steve sheepishly shifted.

"Well, not comfortable exactly, but I make do." He made a lighthearted shrug.

"And the monsters don't bother you?"

"I know how to handle them."

Inside the house, Herobrine's hand shook, tightly clenching the fleecy material in his hands. With a grimace, his eyes flicked to Steve's crude sword that leaned against the corner of the far wall.

He recognized these trespassers. Not their voices, since they did not say a word during the entire fight. But their presence, their aura. He recognized that. That's what he felt right before their potion-enhanced forms blurred toward him in an unexpected attack. They managed to make it past his numerous defenses, his traps, his watchers, without triggering any alarms, catching him in the middle of a stroll through what was supposed to be the safest part of his stronghold. He didn't even have any weapons at hand, having just woken up and looking forward to making something for breakfast.

At first blinking toward them with surprise, he snorted then, confident that he would handle them as easily as the other fools who dared to come and challenge him in earlier times. And he paid a price for his arrogant assumptions. In his condition now he was no match for them at all. Their strange weapons seemed to have inflicted lasting damage, not allowing his body to heal properly.

But he couldn't just give up! If he had to die, he would face them in battle, not like a cowardly rat hiding in a hole. With an angry growl, Herobrine stumbled up to his feet and nearly fell against the wall, his hand bracing his fall with a dull sound.

... Steve's heart jumped at the noise, though his smile grew brighter.

"It's just my dog... " he explained hastily at the suspicious looks drawing to the shut door behind him. "You were saying?..."

"We wish to make you an offer. The monster that we thought we killed had managed to get away. We believe he is hiding in the caves. If you become our guide and help us find his layer, we will include you in any spoils that we may find."

"WILL find." The other man hurried to assure. "I am sure that he has amassed a great deal of treasure over the years. It was not in the mansion, but he probably hid it somewhere in the mines."

Their sincere looks took Steve aback. Words that he was not interested in their offer almost flew off his tongue. But wouldn't that be suspicious? And... if he searched with them in the caves, he could lead them away from here, giving Herobrine the time he needed to recover.

Steve hesitated.

"How about this." The men mistook Steve's delay. "You be our guide and we'll pay you a... tenth. A tenth part of what we'll get when we bring proof of the monster's death to our guild in Maelkom."

Steve considered a moment longer. "Eighth!" He grinned. The hunters exchanged reluctant looks.

"Deal!" One extended his hand to Steve and Steve shook it to seal the agreement.

"You got yourselves a guide... But I won't be able to start until Tomorrow. There are matters here that I must settle."

"Yes, we understand."

Exchanging a few polite words and arranging a meeting point in town, the two men left. Steve, continuing to smile until they were out of sight, slumped against the door with relief. And then heard another sound, of something metal falling.

Hurrying inside, he saw scowling Herobrine leaning against the wall with a hunted look, one shaking hand clutched to his bandaged chest, blood seeping through the bandages from wounds reopened by abrupt movement. A sword lay at his feet.

"Do not worry. They left." Steve assured. The anger in Herobrine's face dimmed to frustration, his gaze dropping to the sword on the ground. He could not even hold it!

Steve hurried to his side and gently, but firmly slid his shoulder under his arm, guiding him back to his bed. The man didn't resist him. Now that the danger was past, weakness quickly robbed him of the brief strength he managed to find.

"It will be fine. I will take them on a long trip. It will be days before we can check all those caves. Once they realize this, they will give up and leave." Steve tried to encourage Herobrine, seeing that gloomy disgruntled look settle in his expression.

Herobrine nodded, not appearing enthusiastic at all, even after Steve explained his reasons.

"Don't worry about any of it. It will be fine!" Steve grinned. "At the end of it all, I will just forfeit my pay, since we won't find anything. You did say that you will only need a few more days before you will be well enough to leave somewhere else. So it will be fine."

He probably should not have listened to Steve. At this point, he should have simply left Steve's house. He had regained enough power that he could have forced the Endermen to return to his side and take him to another place he deemed safe, where he felt fairly sure even these strange opponents would not find him.

Yet, he allowed Steve's confident appeals to convince him. That, and his own selfish wish to remain, because he felt drawn toward the human's company. It had been a long time since he had dared to act like... himself, with anyone. It certainly appealed more to him than falling into an unease daze as he waited alone in some empty, lonely stronghold until his strength became fully restored. And Steve had nothing to fear from those men. They were here to hunt Herobrine and he was a human, like them. They had no reason to hurt him, even if their search came to nothing.

"All right." Herobrine reluctantly accepted Steve's questionable idea, though unease remained in the corner of his heart.